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What Does It Mean To Be Gay?
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Your sexual preference does not describe who you are – it is just a part of the whole you. Whether you are straight, gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender, you are who you are.
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What is LGBT? This is a shortened way to refer to Lesbians (homosexual women), Gay men (homosexual men), Bisexuals (a man or women attracted to both men and women) and Transgendered people (men and women who feel they would be more comfortable as a member of the opposite sex) as a group.
What is Sexual Orientation? This is used to define the category of sexual attraction someone falls into. Though it can be very limited as society treats it, it varies largely on an individual basis.
Here are some other terms you need to know:
Sexuality – consists of 4 major components: biological sex (male or female), gender identity (psychological sense of being male or female), social sex role (adherence to cultural/societal gender norms) and sexual orientation (attraction to a particular gender).
Homosexual – one whose primary sexual orientation is towards someone of the same gender.
Gay - usually refers to a homosexual male but can also refer to a homosexual female, as well as the LGBT community in general.
Lesbian – an acceptable term for female homosexuals.
Bisexual – one whose primary sexual orientation is, to varying degrees, towards members of both genders.
Transgender – a broad term that applies to people who live substantial parts of their lives expressing an innate sense of gender other than their birth sex (includes transsexuals, cross-dressers, but is not a sexual orientation).
Transsexual – one whose innate sense of gender conflicts with their anatomical sex. (Some transsexuals take medical steps, such as hormone therapy or surgery, or legal steps, such as changing their driver’s license and the sex on their birth certificate, to change their biological sex officially).
Queer – a word used by some specific LGBT members to identify themselves. This word still has a negative connotation, however, and offends some people.
Ally – a heterosexual whose attitudes and behaviors are actively accepting of the LGBT community. These people are committed to increasing awareness of issues related to heterosexism, and are willing to actively work against homophobia.
Heterosexism – prejudice that heterosexuality is the only ‘normal’ sexual orientation, coupled with the social power to enforce that prejudice on individual, institutional, and cultural levels.
Homophobia – irrational fear or hatred of homosexuality or bisexuality, and the fear or hatred of anything or anyone deviating from traditional gender roles.
“In the Closet” – hiding or being secretive about one’s sexual orientation. This can have extensive emotional and psychological tolls on a person, and this choice is often made out of fear of rejection or abuse due to the widespread nature of homophobia in today’s society.
“Coming Out” – term to describe the experience in which a person identifies himself as homosexual or bisexual. Each person’s experience is unique and is not a one-time event but rather spans the course of a person’s life as identifying himself as homosexual or bisexual to friends, family, and other significant members of his social world.
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Did You Know?
1st All-GLBT School...
The Harvey Milk High School, scheduled to enroll 100 students and open Fall 2003, is the first public school for GLBT youth.
It is located in the East Village of New York. The program, which began in 1984 as two GLBT classrooms in a public school, is expanding with renovations.
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